Saturday, December 16, 2006

BC Ferries - Lucifer Hahn

All I can say is that I am disugted that the marketing strategy of a government subsidised monopoly is more important than extending a minor gesture of good will towards the community that helped keep a tragedy from becoming a complete disaster.

Northern Aventure is a marketing strategy? If that is the best they can come up with, fire the marketing team NOW! You want to bring people on board - name the ship after Hartley Bay - there is an interesting story behind it. There is history, local history. Northern Adventure means nothing and couldn't be more boring if you tried.

Fuck you, Dave. You are nothing but a soulless asshole. I hope this comes back and bites your ass right off.

4 Comments:

What if the courageous people of Hartley Bay had figured out that it did nothing for THEIR marketing strategy to go out into rough seas in the dark of night to rescue most of the passengers off that sinking B.C. ferry? What if their best marketing strategy would've been to stay home that night? What if 50 or 60 people had drowned in that shipwreck? Could've happened, if it hadn't been for the SPIRIT OF HARTLEY BAY.

And how come it's OK for BC Ferries, operated by real humans, to pause in salute when they sail past the crash-site ... but it's NOT OK for one of those ships to carry the symbol of the debt we owe to, you know, the SPIRIT OF HARTLEY BAY.

I think B.C. Ferries is right on this, actually. The names of the ships are important marketing tools. When people in Germany or Texas are thinking about whether to travel here, they're looking at lots of other options. Same is true when they're deciding whether to do the usual Vancouver-Whistler-Butchart Gardens visits or explore more of the province.Cool names that evoke the beauty and mystery of the coast can help lure them on to the ferries, which also means — usually — a trip up Vancouver Island to Port Hardy and then from Rupert through the Interior. Good news for communities along the line. (You can still debate whether the chosen names accomplish that.)They are other ways to recognize the efforts of the people in Hartley Bay. The corporation has bought a rescue boat and funded boardwalk improvements and playground equipment. A memorial is needed, in the community and on the ships. And perhaps another ferry could be named for Hartley Bay.But if I'm in Quesnel or Campbell River, then the prospect of more visitors because of catchy names for the ferries would seem pretty important.